1. Technical Field
Present invention embodiments relate generally to information mining, and more specifically, to identifying information proactively based on a user's context.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Identifying information relevant to a particular topic of interest is a manual and repetitive process usually driven by keyword searches. For example, a user may manually enter various keywords into search engines, search fields of subscription-based databases or social media platforms to obtain information relevant to a particular topic. Not only is this process time consuming, but also, the search may not retrieve the most relevant information.
A common practice to identify relevant information is to monitor keyword search terms entered into a search tool, and suggest similar phrases for a subsequent keyword search. However, this practice does not provide results proactively, requires a user to engage in a search, and may not provide optimal information.
Another common practice involves using advertising/marketing technologies to identify, based upon user selection of a particular product, other items having similar properties or popularity among consumers. However, this practice is limited regarding the types of information that it can provide to a user, does not consider a user's context, and may not provide optimal results.
Other approaches exist as well, which involve monitoring and analyzing searches performed by a user. However, these approaches may not produce optimal information, are not performed pro-actively, and are reliant upon a user actively engaging in searching for a particular type of information.